Nut cracking machine



. l, 1931. R. P. NlxoN NUT GRAGKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 2. 1929 '2 Sheets-5h68# 1 Dec. l, 1931. R. P. NlxoN NUT CRACKING MACHINE 2 sneets-sh'qt 2 Filed Dec. 2. '1929 Patented Dec. 1,"1931 MT1-u lSTATES norma' r. mxon, or rom enovn, OREGON isru'r cnaczme momma Application meanmmm 2, 192s. serial no. l411,969.

The cracking of nuts is a tedious job. Qn the other hand, when nuts are cracked long 1n advance of their use, the 'kernels tend to lose their freshness, and to become and rancid due to exposure. Therefore, the object of my invention is to provide a practical machine by which nuts may be quickly cracked at the time they are purchased, the same as coffee is freshly ground.

The adjustment of the nut cracking machines must not be more or less haphazard 'with respect to the size of the nuts to be operated upon; for in that event, some of the .nuts are not cracked sufficiently to facilitate the separation of the kernels from the shells,

while others are cracked to such a degree as to crush the kernels, or break them up into fragments.

Furthermore, since the work of cracking nuts must be quickly done in a busy store, the

means forfadjusting the cracking devices to the size of the nuts, must be accessible, simple my invention is to provide a nut Vcracking v and visible; for otherwise, since the cracking devices are concealed from view the l housing of the machine, it is impossible to make the necessary adjustment without first running a batch of nuts through the machine,

and thus consuming considerable time in this preliminary work. n

Therefore, one of the principal objects of machine with readily accessible, visible, and simple means for adjusting the nut cracking devices quickly, to'operate upon nuts of different sizes, and lands.

I attain my object in a nut cracking machine composed ofaframe,cooperating crack- Y ing elements, one thereof being relatively sta- Y tionary, the other being relatively' adjustable, means for eifecting such relative adjustment,

gauge-pinsone thereof fixed relatively to said stationary cracking element, the other pin carried by said adjustable crackingelement, said gauge-pins projecting exterior of the machine and parallel with each other to indicate the space between the cooperating faces of said cracking elements, whereby to eect the adjustment of said cracking faces relatively to a given size nut tobe operated upon by to further illustrate the struction and mode of operation, are hereinafter fully. described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a side elevationof my nut cracking machine with parts broken awayto illustrate the details of construction;

YF 2 shows front elevation of the same the nut cracking elements; l

ig. 3 shows a perspective view of the frame removed from the machine housing which supports the operative parts;

Fig.` 4 shows a perspective view of the drawer removed from the machine in which the cracked nuts are received; Y

Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of the vcoand further illustrates the means for adjust.-

Fig. 6 shows a side elevation partlyV ir. f

section and with parts broken away to further illustrate the relative positions of the Fig. 7 shows a sectlon taken n the line 7 7 of Fig. 6 with certain rts broken away adjausting elements;

Fig.'8 shows partly in section 'the frame and rotary cracking elements removed from the machine; and

Figs. 9, 10, and 11. sh'owviews of the nut cracking elements and illustratehow the ad- Justing means are operated'for various kinds of nuts.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly Flgs. 1 and 2, my nut cracking ma` chine comprises a housing a provided with a hopper b at the top, and an entrance opening at the bottom in which a drawer d is inserted into which the cracked nuts and shells will be collected.

The nut crackin elements comprise a rotary cylinder e, see ig. 8,' and aco-operating cracking element f,Fig. 5, the former clogging of the nuts between the cracking For a more refined adjustment for differ-` elements. The'c linder e is mounted fast on a shaft z' journa ed at j in the frame lc and driven preferably by an electric ,motor Z through suitable gears m, though of course, other driving means ma be provided.

The co-operating crac ing element f is arranged substantially tangentially to the cylinder e and is provided with transverse V- shapedV .teeth on the side adjacent the cylinder e. T e element f is hingedly connected to the frame ls at its upperl edge bylaterally extending pins n seated in the said frame c at each side.

The means I have provided for accurately adjusting the nut cracking elements comprise respectively a laterally extending gauge pin 2 carried on the side of the crackingelement f and extending through an arcuate slot 3 in the side of the housing a, and a complementary laterallyv projecting gauge pine 5, carried' on the exterior sideof the frame c and extending through the housing a adjacent the rearward end of the said arcuate slot 3. An eccentric cam 6 is rotatably mounted on the gauge pins 5 and is provided with a set screw 6a for securing it in place as hereinafter described.

The co-operatngelement f is also provid! ed with .companion bosses 7 on its rearward side,` in which are transversally arranged elongate slots 8. An adjusting lead screw 9 yis pivotally connected at one-end to the said bosses bymeans of a pin 10 inserted through the end of the said screw and the elongate slots 8. `The other end of the screw is threaded in a slee'ye 12 rotatably mounted in the front ortion offthewf'rame, as at 13, and extendlng through the housing to the exterior.l An operating wheel 14, provided with a handle 14a, is mounted fast on the outer end of the A said sleeve and a flat spring 15 is secured to the housing and arrangedso as to bear on the periphery ofv the wheel 14 in notches 14?) in order to hold it against accidental movement.

By rotating the lead screw 9 by means of the wheel 14, the cracking element f may be moved to and from the cylinder e for ad- 'justmentaccording'to the size of the nuts to be operated upon, and the gauge-pins 2 and 5, serve as a gauge by which the adjustment ofthe nut cracking element will be indicated.

Thus, to properly set the nut cracking elements .to operate upon a given kind and grade of nut, one from among those to be operated upon is heldA between thegaugepins, 2 and 5, see Figs. 9, 10, and 11, and the lead-screw 9 is then rotated to move the cooperating cracking element f and the gaugepin 2 towardv or away from the gauge pin 5, until the said pins touch the nut on each side, andthe .co-operating element f will then be properly spaced fromthe cylinder e to crack the shell of the nut without crushing the kernel. j

ent kinds of nuts which may require more crushing than others, I provide the eccentric cam 6 so that in the case of walnuts, the shells of which are quite brittle and do not need to be severely cracked, I rotate the cam 6 as shown in F ig. 4, to decrease the space between the gauge-pin, and thus the cracking .cracking element f will be brought closer to the cylinder e, and hence will crush the nuts more severely.

Therefore, with my nut cracking machine, a. retail merchant will be able to effectively crack the nuts for the customer as they are purchased, by merely starting the motor of the machine, setting the gauge pins, 2 and 5, by holding one of the nuts between them, and then pouring all the Vnu'tspurchased into the hopper, and when they are all cracked and have fallen into the drawer ,to withdraw the drawer and pour the jcracked nuts into a paper bag or the likeand hand them to the customer.

I claim: 1. In a nut cracking machine of the charac- Iter described, a frame, cooperating cracking elements, one thereof being relatively stationary, ,the other being relatively adjustable, means for ei'ecting such relative adjustment,

'gauge-pins, one thereof fixed relatively to said stationary cracking element, the other pin carried by said adjustable cracking ele- 'ment, said gauge pins projecting exterior of the machine and arranged to indicate the space between the cooperating faces of said cracking elements, whereby to effect the adj ustment of said cracking faces relatively to a given size nut to be operatedl upon by holding a sample of such nuts between said gaugeplns.

2. In a nut cracking machine of the character described, a frame, cooperating cracking elements, one thereof being relatively stationary, the other being relatively adjustable, means for Aefl'ecting such relative adjustment, gauge-pins, one thereof fixed relatively to said stationary cracking element, the other pin carried by said adjustable cracking element, said gauge pins projecting exterior of the machine and parallel with each other to indicate the space between the cooperating faces of said cracking elements.

3. In a nut cracking machine of the character described, a frame, cooperating cracking elements, one thereof being relatively stationary, the other being relatively adjustable,

means for efecti-n such relative adjustment,

gauge-pins, one t ereof xed relatively to said stationary cracking element, the other pin carried by said adjustable cracking element, said gauge-pins projecting exterior of the machine and arranged to indicate the space between the cooperating faces of said pins.

' 4. In a nut cracking machine of the character described, a frame, cooperating crack* ing elements, one thereof being relatively stationary, the other being relatively adjustable, means for effecting such relative adjustment, gauge-pins, one thereof fixed relatively to said stationary cracking element, the other pin carried by said adjustable cracking element, said gaugeins projecting exterior of the machine an arranged to indicate the 'space between the cooperating faces of said cracking elements, and an adjustable cam carried by one of said gaugepins, whereby to effect the adjustment of said cracking faces relatively to a given size nut to be operated upon by holding a sample of such nuts between said gauge-pins.

5. In a nut cracking machine of the character described, a frame, a cylindrical, rotary cracking element, a cooperative, adjustable cracking element, means for adjusting the latter element relatively to the former, gauge-pins, one thereof xed relatively to said cylindrical, rotary cracking element, the other pin carried by said adjustable cracking element, said gauge-pins projecting exterior of the machine and arranged to indicate the space between the cooperating faces of said cracking elements, `whereby to effect the adjustment of said cracking faces relatively to a given size nut to be operated upon by holding a sample of such nuts between said gauge-pins.

6. In a" nut cracking machine of the character described, a frame, a cylindrical, ro-v tary cracking element, a cooperative, adjustable cracking element, means for adjusting the latter element relatively to the former, gauge-pins, one thereof fixed relatively to said cylindrical, rotary cracking elements, the other pin carried by said adjustable cracking element, said gauge-pins projecting' exterior of the machine and arranged to i'ndicate the space between the cooperating faces of said cracking elements, a an adjustablefauxiliary gauge-element can" one of said gauge-pins, whereby to effect the adjustment of said cracking faces relatively to a given size nut to be operated upon by holding a sample of such nuts between saidgauge-pins.

7 In a nut cracking machine of the character described, a frame, a cylindrical, rotary cracking element, a cooperative, adjustable cracking element, means for adjusting the later element relatively to the former, gaugepins, one thereof fixed relatively to said cylindrical, rotary cracking element, sald gauge-pins projecting exterior of the machine and parallel with each other to indicate the space between the cooperating faces of said cracking elements,4 and an adjustable cam carried by one of said gauge-pins, whereby .to effect the adjustment o said cracking faces relatively to a given size nut to be operated upon by holding a sample of such nuts between said gauge-pins. l

8. In a nut cracking machine of the character described, a frame, cooperating cracking elements, one` thereofA being relativelyA stationary, the other being relatively adjustable, means for effecting said relative adjustment, means carried by said frame and said adjustable cracking elements extending exterior of said frame, said means constitutingA 

